Stages 20 and 21 

 

‘I'm happy to be back again and greet you big and small
 For there's no place on earth like the homes of Donegal’    Paul Brady



Maureen and Brian leave me in Letterkenny (8.00am)

 
 

Stages 20 and 21 of Coastal Run (Letterkenny to Fanad Head) were both completed on the weekend of 30 June-2 July 2018. We stayed 2 nights in Fanad Lodge (see map).  

 

Stage 20: Letterkenny to Portsalon:Sat. 30 June 2018 (50k or 31.4miles)

It's a great summer so far! I had been keeping an eye on the weather all week, hoping it would cool down. However, despite the early start it was still almost 20 degrees when I started today’s run from Letterkenny at 8.07am. I had convinced Maureen (and Brian) to leave Bangor early (at 5.45am). Such a beautiful morning and yes, as Paul Brady sings ‘there’s no place on earth like Donegal’.

 

None of these coastal runs go to plan (that’s why it’s called an adventure!) Each stage usually offers a different and unique challenge. Today the challenge was actually getting out of Letterkenny and finding the proper coastal route! I seemed to misinterpret a sign for Ramelton as I left Letterkenny and so lost some time there (should have kept going straight, not left onto De Valera road). Also it was confusing that Ramelton is called Rathmelton on the ordinance survey map. I knew I had to follow the Ramelton/Rathmelton road for a little while and then take a right turn at Barn Hill (Golf Course) which would bring me down towards the coast. Eventually when I did reach this turnoff for the Golf Course I was already feeling very hot and tired. I had wasted so much energy and I was still only one kilometre outside Letterkenny!


Still this quiet, narrow country road towards Barn Hill was tree-lined and shady. Just what I needed! After about 3k outside Letterkenny, I came to a T junction and then took a right turn which eventually (after another 6k) brought me closer to the coast and to the ruins of Killydonnell Friary.

Bishop Neal O'Boyles chapel at Killydonnell Friary

Killydonnell Friary
This was the perfect place to stop. No sign of anyone around and aptly, I feel a bit like a hermit here at the friary. I read on a stone that one of my ‘ancestors’, Bishop Neal O’Boyle held a chapel here in these beautiful peaceful surroundings overlooking Lough Swilly. Also it was here that Calvagh O’Donnell and his wife were captured and taken into captive by the famous Shane O’Neill. These O’Donnells were Shane’s parent’s in-law and he later went on to marry his own mother-in-law. I suppose he captured her in more ways than one!
   

View from Killydonnell Friary

      

After I left the Friary I carried on along the main country road (maybe there was an option to take a more coastal route but it looked more like a turn into a farm). I was getting so thirsty now! I stopped to talk to some cyclists and they gave me a few sips of their water.

 

I carried on, taking a right at a T junction and eventually after another 5k reaching Ballylin Point. Looking at this on the map (the night before) I was slightly concerned when I saw that the road came to an abrupt end but I knew if I could get down onto the shore I could join another country road (Ballylin Road) that would bring me into Ramelton. Lucky for me I met a friendly face here.

 

Her name was Helen (yes another Helen!). We chatted for a while and she gave me a glass of water, which I told her was much more appreciated than any sponsorship donation. This was another peaceful place on the edge of Lough Swilly with the strand on Mill Bay in Inch Island smiling in the sunshine across the Lough.

After I left Helen (we’ll call her Helen Ballylin!) I was able to run along the shore for about 500 metres until I joined up with the Ballylin Road. I followed this road for about 5k and at a T junction I was glad to see a sign saying, ‘Ramelton 2km’



By the river in Ramelton

 

 



                              

Bridge over River Leannan in Ramelton

As I crossed over the bridge on the river Leannan I was given some good news when I saw the sign saying ‘Rathmullen 9km’. Maureen had just texted me to say that Brian and her were in Rathmullan and to pass some time were going to get the ferry across (and back) to Buncrana. I figured I could make it to Rathmullan in an hour. To be honest, in this heat, I wasn’t sure if I could make it all the way to Portsalon today, but the 9k to Rathmullan seemed achievable.   

 

Except it wasn’t only 9k to Rathmullan! I ran for about 1k and then I passed a sign that said Rathmullan was now 10k. After a while I passed another sign, still saying 10km! Just like a bad dream, I wasn’t making any progress and it was still getting warmer! It was probably an hour later as I was getting closer to Rathmullan, I saw a sign saying Rathmullan was 5km ahead and Ramelton was 7km behind  – so that makes it 12k between the villages! 

You can imagine how glad I was to meet Maureen and Brian in Rathmullan. They had already got the ferry across and back to Buncrana. It was now 12.30pm and still getting warmer.

 

The Flight of the Earls
It was here in Rathmullan in 1607 that the O’Neills and O’Donnells (the last of the Gaelic Order) left for the Continent. The Plantation of Ulster followed shortly afterwards. A beautiful sculpture depicts this defining moment in Irish history. Everything changed in Ireland after this.  

Brian at 'Flight of the Earls' sculpture in Rathmullan

 I sit with Maureen and Brian for a while, eat a few salty skinny chips and drink lots more water. To be honest at this stage I’m not too enthusiastic about moving again. The beautiful beach in Rathmullan stretches for a few miles. Families, young and old, are enjoying a perfect day on the beach. A mad runner (yes me!) runs along the beach. Yes I know I keep saying ‘sand is for the feet of the runner’ but in this weather I'm not so sure! It’s now 27 degrees at 1.00pm – Donegal is the warmest place in Ireland today!

Brian with mad runner on Rathmullan beach

 

Still, I’m able to run along the beach (Kinnegar Strand) for about 2.5k before I have to join the road to Portsalon. As I join the road I see a lovely fountain in the gardens of a big house (Drumhalla House) and even though it says ‘no entry’ I can’t resist going in just to feel the spray!

There’s very little traffic on this road to Portsalon. However as I get closer to Portsalon the hills are getting steeper. There are lovely views across the blue sea to Dunree Head in Inishown and I can easily see the twisting cliff top road along the side of the Urris Hills (this was part of stage 18)

View from Fanad Peninsula across to Inishown.

 

  The road is getting stickier too as the tar macadam begins to melt with the heat. I notice the cows in the fields are sitting down under trees – they’ve got the right attitude (no danger of cows running after me today!) As I get closer to the Knockalla mountains I’ve made a decision - to walk up the hills and run down them.

Deep in the Fanad Peninsula

I’m getting thirsty again. At Bunnaton More I see a man in his parked car and ask him for a drink. He apologies that he doesn’t have anything. I struggle through a few more hills and then I hear a car beep behind me. I’m so pleased that its Maureen and Brian. I ask them to pull in at the next lay-by. As I turn the next corner, I see Maureen has parked the car and behind her over the cliff is the most amazing sight!

It’s Ballymastocker Strand in all its glory – so I’ve more or less arrived in Portsalon (port of the salt). I gulp down a few more pints of water and Maureen, Brian and I admire the spectacular view.

  A few years ago the Observer Newspaper voted Stocker beach the second best beach in the world. Someone commented ‘how was it ever pipped by some old Seychelles beach’! 

Cooling down in Ballystocker Beach, Portsalon

 

So to complete Stage 20 I just have a simple run downhill to this beautiful beach. I couldn’t have asked for a better finish line to stage 20 or better place for a cooling down afterwards.     

Stage 21: Portsalon to Ballyheernan Bay:Mon 2 July 2018: 21k or 13.3m (or more correctly Ballyheerran Bay to Portsalon)

 

 

It was Maureen who suggested that I do this shorter stage while we were in Donegal and so I actually ran this stage today clockwise with the sea on my left hand side. Strange to do it this way but I made sure it was still a coastal run. We had stayed two nights (Saturday & Sunday) in Fanad Lodge. So on the Monday morning I had a small breakfast a bit earlier and left Ballyheernan Bay at 8.27am. Maureen and Brian had a bigger breakfast, checked out of Fanad Lodge and drove a more direct route to Portsalon. The arrangement was to meet on Ballymastocker beach in Portsalon at about 11.00am.

 

So I start stage 21 by taking a left turn from Fanad Lodge following the course of the road for a few hundred metres until I came to Eelburn Caravan park where I was able to run through a trail that brought me down onto a nice beach (Carrickachurdin Bay). I run along the beach for about 1k until it came to an end and then take a trail which eventually brings me back to the main road. I took a left at the main road and continued all the way to Fanad Lighthouse, passing a townland called Ballynalost on the way!     



Fanad Lighthouse

Fanad Lighthouse

Fanad Head lighthouse was voted the world's 2nd most beautiful lighthouse after Lindau Lighthouse in Germany (so just like Stocker Strand, another second in the world!) Locals say that Fanad Head lighthouse is slightly higher than the Eiffel Tower. I think that’s if you measure it from sea-level. Maureen, Brian and I had got a really interesting tour of the Lighthouse the day before but on this Monday morning as I arrived, it was equally appealing. It was originally built in 1817 following numerous shipping disasters in this area, especially the HMS Saldanha in 1812. (see later)

Pincher Bay just beside Fanad Lighthouse

 

So I leave the Lighthouse and backtrack (uphill!) for about 2k until I came to the coastal road L1072 (Wild Atlantic way) to Portsalon where I take a left, keeping the sea on my left hand side!

 

The weather is much more pleasant today. Nice and sunny but no extreme heat like I had on Saturday. In fact it’s a beautiful day and I can think of no better way or place to spend a Monday morning. It’s quite hilly on this coastal route to Portsalon but I’m determined to run up every single hill. ( I think the break I had yesterday did help and I’ve got my second wind today) It’s still very strange running with the sea on my left hand side this morning and I’m actually running north to south today. It doesn’t seem to take that long before I can see the magnificent Stocker Strand in the distance.


Heading towards Portsalon from north Fanad


I quickly reach Portsalon Pier and I stop for the first time since I left Fanad Lighthouse. This pier area is quite nice. There are shops and a cafe and a small secluded beach. I order another bottle of water and finish it quickly before heading off again.
 

Portsalon Pier

Maureen & Brian at Portsalon Pier



View from Portsalon Pier to Ballystocker Strand

HMS Saldanha Disaster

The last sighting of the Saldanha Ship was at 9.00pm in December 1812. With violent storms it hit the rocks at Carrickadonnel and ‘became engulfed in the swirling surf of Ballymastocker Bay’. On the following morning the beach was littered with over two hundred bodies and debris from the ship.

I took this photo just after arriving on Ballystocker  Beach. Unfortunately for the crew on the Saldanha it was completely different weather conditions. 

 Apparently a parrot was the only survivor on the ship and he was shot shortly afterwards by a local farmer who didn’t realise where this strange bird came from. There are reminders of the Saldanha and its crew all around this area (ie headland called Saldanha Head) but the real (practical) memory to those who died is the Fanad Lighthouse built in 1817.   





 

 I discover a lovely grassy path that goes from Portsalon Pier to the Golf Club while leads me down to the beach. What a finish I have in front of me! I still have about 3k to go but Ballymastocker strand was definitely made for the feet of the runner!

The tide is in fully now but it’s still easy enough to run on the beach. And to cap it all, Maureen and Brian are there to greet me again on this beautiful beach on the perfect summer’s morning. And so the adventure continues  ...................................

  

Total distance to date: 909k or 568miles -Next stage Sat 25 Aug (West Fanad Peninsula)  

The next stage I'll do will be on Sat 25 August from Ballyhiernan Bay (top of Fanad Peninsula) around the west coast of Fanad and coming back again to Ballyhiernan Bay. It's around 18-20 miles and I start and finish in the same place (Fanad Lodge).